Tomatoes Training
by Ryth76
Summary: Hinata tries to bond with Sasuke a little during the preparations for a holiday party. Mild AU. No pairings, but one-sided NaruHina suggested. Yes, it is a Christmas fic in May.


_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I do not profit from writing this._

**A/N: Sort of a one-shot story for Sasuke and Hinata. There's no romance. In fact, one-sided NaruHina, as in the canon, is strongly suggested during their conversation. This oneshot took me forever. I mean... the story is set during Christmas time, which probably does not exist in the Naruto world (though it does for Japan) but who cares, and it's _May_ now. It's a little bit of an AU. Sasuke never left Konoha. Instead he just broke away from Team 7 and refused to have anything to do with them.  
**

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**Tomatoes Training  
**

Snowflakes drifted down to melt on a pink, outstretched tongue. Hinata exhaled, puffs of fog rising from her mouth. She clapped her gloved hands together and blew into them. A nearby Christmas band played a carol on their trumpets as ninja bundled in their winter cloaks walked through the streets buying presents for their loved ones.

She gave a passing glance to a set of tomato figurines in various poses of ninja training before looking through the puzzle games kiosk. Sakura would love the big book of quizzes with the free wooden ring puzzle. The timid girl pointed a delicate finger.

"Um… I would like to buy that, if you don't mind…" she said, shivering in the cold.

"Of course I don't mind! You have excellent taste," said the mustached kiosk owner, wrapping it up.

Hinata thanked him. The kiosk owner answered, "No problem. If you buy this puzzle over here too, you get the other two matching puzzles for half-price."

The figurine kiosk owner chided him. "She's half-frozen! Girl, get inside and warm up a bit. Then when you come back, I'll let you buy the tomatoes you were admiring for only eighty percent the original cost."

Hinata stammered a thanks and hurried into the city hall, which was all decked up for the holiday party. Some of her classmates were already sitting there. The boys were gathered in the corner, shirtless as their snow damp shirts dried and eyeing each other's muscles, sizing each other up. All the boys, that is, except visiting Gaara, who had simply wrapped himself in warm sand for decency, and Sasuke, who was standing in the corner arguing with his sensei. The girls found this a bit of a disappointment as Sasuke and Gaara both held the reputation of being the most popular and handsome men in their respective villages and many of the girls wished to compare them. So they settled for eyeing Sai, who many viewed as being second best.

The latter spun around and slunk to the couch.

The Hyuuga heiress sat down beside him. She didn't understand why Sasuke didn't want anything to do with his own team, but she owed it to Naruto to try to listen. She bit her lip, unsure how to start a conversation with the frosty young man.

To her surprise, Sasuke spoke first. "Hinata."

Hinata swallowed. "Sasuke-kun…? That is… Why are you mad at Naruto-kun?"

A lock of black hair drooped over his mouth as he tilted his head, considering her question with devil-may-care written on his face. He grunted in scornful amusement. "What do you care?"

"Eh?" White eyes blinked.

"That guy only gets in my way," Sasuke muttered, standing. He glanced down at the sitting girl. "Don't you get in my way, too."

"Eh?" What a frightening person. The only other person who had told her something similar had nearly crushed her.

Sasuke grumbled, "I should be stronger… I'm not beaten yet."

Hinata made a soft 'oh' sound. She had heard rumors that a missing ninja had offered to take Sasuke in for intensive training, but Sasuke had ultimately refused, though he refused to work with Team Seven since then. It was common knowledge that his clan had been wiped out in a single night, leaving him alone in the world, though what had happened exactly was generally avoided in conversations. From what she heard, someone close to Sasuke had done it and that person had shown up in Konoha not long before he announced he would no longer take missions with Kakashi's team.

"Um… Sasuke-kun? There's been some, uh, rumors going around… Are they…?"

Sasuke's head jerked and he gave a deep scowl that clearly warned her not to delve any further. Hinata squeaked, "Ah! I'm sorry… I-It's not my place…" She fidgeted, flustered by the fierce expression on his face. "I'm a little worried. Na… Naruto-kun is really upset about all this." She added mournfully, "I want him to be happy… Isn't that what team-mates do? Look after each other?"

Sasuke snorted. "What? Are you lecturing me now? Save your breath. Looking after one another is what the weak do. I have no intention of trying that route again."

Hinata could pick out a pattern on the floor boards. She touched her finger tips together. "Ah. I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun…" They didn't speak for an uncomfortable minute. "Oh! I… just remembered… I didn't get a present for you yet…" Why was she talking about presents? "What do you like?"

Sasuke answered coldly, "Nothing." He added almost sulkily half a minute later, "Tomatoes… Training."

Hinata touched a finger to her lips and looked at the ceiling as she thought. "I… I think I can find something that kind of fits that description… Um, wait here."

She didn't know exactly what she was doing, she felt almost sick with nerves, but perhaps a little honest kindness here and there would make all the difference with angry Sasuke. Snow crunched underneath her feet as she trudged her way to the chilly kiosks. "Um…" She pulled out her money bag, shivering as an icy wind seeped through her coat. "I-I'd like those tomatoes, please…"

"Do you want it gift-wrapped?"

Hinata nodded, teeth chattering. "Y-yes, please."

She took the wrapped box set that had somehow ended up costing twice what it was a few minutes ago and paid. She went back inside, stomping snow onto the rug, then made her way back to the couch. She sat down and handed Sasuke the gift. She chattered, still numbed from the cold, "I-I hope you like it-t, S-Sasuke-kun…"

She blew warm air onto her gloved hands, clapping for warmth, while Sasuke opened the gift box. Sasuke's mouth twitched as he held up a kunai brandishing tomato. "What is this?"

Hinata looked away. "Um… tomatoes training…?"

Sasuke dropped the figure into the box with disdain. "Pointless junk…" He stood up. "I'll throw them away when I get home."

She protested, "Wait, you can't do that…"

Sasuke gave her an icy sidelong glance. "Watch me." He stood up and walked out the door.

Hinata slumped. "Sasuke-kun…"

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Sasuke stared at the odd set and his lips twitched again. He placed the set on his bedside table and stretched out on his bed, fingers clasped behind his head, as he admired the odd trinkets. He would never admit to keeping them, let alone liking them, to that Hyuuga girl's face.

It would be his little secret.

_The End_

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**A/N: Poor Hinata... Sasuke can be so mean.  
**


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